


A Study in Expecting the Unexpected (Amongst Other Things)

by saebest



Category: Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen, Naruto
Genre: Gen, Naruto Sai and Tsunade are briefly mentioned/featured, POV Uchiha Sasuke, for those with emetophobia there is a very small mention of bile
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-09-24 13:09:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20359021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saebest/pseuds/saebest
Summary: Returning to Konoha always leaves Sasuke feeling slightly sentimental. This time, he lingers on those thoughts.





	A Study in Expecting the Unexpected (Amongst Other Things)

“And we’re back,” Shikako announced, with a playful tone reminiscent of a T.V. show host.

Sasuke went through the extra effort of looking back, just to stare her down. Amusement expressed itself in the tilt of her grin. Vengefully, Sasuke plucked a branch and flicked it in her direction.

His head was still numb from the ordeal that was the movie preview, and while he could appreciate Shikako waiting until they reached Konoha to poke fun at it, he still was going to do his best to not encourage it. If he played along, she might never stop. And it wasn’t something he was ready for frequent reminders of.

The people at the premiere, be it famous celebrities or their slightly less famous producers, all seemed doubly interested in the real-life ninja actors. Interest that expressed itself in excessive compliments and a naturally over-the-top personality. Add on Sasuke’s  _ dazzling, pretty boy face with a bad boy personality _ , a comment that Shikako only just let go, and the masses practically competed to see who could hold a conversation with him the longest.

It may have not been a typical Team 7 C-Rank, but it was tiring all the same. Feeling the hard soil of Konoha beneath his sandals was met with relief.

In general, returning to Konoha after a long mission was a unique but familiar feeling. For Sasuke, it was the general promise of almost-safety that relaxed him. Knowing that Team 7, on account of being surrounded by allies, was in a more secure position was a comfort in itself.

It was a feeling Sasuke treasured, after years of unsettlement, when caution settled on his shoulders and fear dictated his walk. At least their first C-rank, disastrous as it was, reintroduced Sasuke to the idea of safety within the walls. He appreciated the semblance of it. 

Truthfully, Sasuke felt as if he was the only one who would allow even that. Although it wasn’t necessarily something that he and the others ever talked about.

Kakashi-sensei, always eight steps ahead at any particularly given moment, never paused to settle into that feeling of almost-safety. At least, not on his own. He found relaxation in the company of friends and comrades. Just the acknowledgement of being in Konoha, Sasuke suspected, was not enough for him.

Sai, from Sasuke’s understanding, had more things to worry about from being inside Konoha than outside. Although he hadn’t come along with them on this “mission”, Sasuke remembered the upright posture that would follow and linger after crossing the Konohagakure border.

Shikako never seemed to be as deeply affected by it as he and others were. He could only assume that her mind was too busy thinking of other things to acknowledge the relief.

(He knows, of course, that Shikako always takes the time to acknowledge the smaller things, no matter how many miles a minute her mind is running. But he’s seen the way she tenses at the smallest of things, even in the seclusion of a booked training field, and he can tell himself that it’s a result of her sensing, but the question of what exactly she’s sensing comes to mind directly after. She hasn’t been ready to tell him that sort of thing, yet, so he figures he’ll do her the common courtesy of not yet acknowledging it.)

As they passed the thick mass of trees, Sasuke took the chance to initiate a conversation of his own, before Shikako took the silence as an opportunity to hit him with another joke. 

“The people over at the mission desk are going to call us back for another report confirmation, you know.” He stated, adjusting his stride to move closer to the others.

“Oh?” Kakashi-sensei hummed, looking at Sasuke with interest. Shikako, from the side, also moved in tighter, but otherwise said nothing.

“It’s going to be a startlingly normal report. They’ll call us because they’ll think we’re either lying, or just conveniently forgot to include the derailed part of the mission.”

“So it’s either that we’re blatantly lying, or making a poor attempt at discreetly lying.” Kakashi chuckled, humor laced in his voice.

Shikako didn’t laugh, but her lips still stretched. “It’ll be funny, at least.” 

“Yeah,” Sasuke said. 

The conversation came to an uneasy end. Shikako didn’t seem to notice. Kakashi and him, on the other hand, shared a look in the span of a second.

Shikako was a surprising person. It was common knowledge to everyone she knew, and all the people that knew of her. A Nara who never rested, an upcoming Seal Mistress since she was a genin, and the girl who had almost never talked in the Academy — making connections amongst elite jounin for years, and putting together social groups like it was nobody’s business. 

Sasuke, in the wake of their genin days, was constantly surprised by Shikako. At that time, he had had every classmate pegged down to a specific image in his head, and she had proved every assumption of his wrong. Even the value in having a team, a doubt that had festered in his head for years before graduation, was proven wrong by her. Work together, and you can grow stronger than you can alone. It was a lesson he hadn’t necessarily thanked her for, but it was one he did appreciate.

The last time Shikako had ever surprised him, by the merit of his own declaration, was the day she awoke in the hospital. After the Tsukiyomi. Itachi. And the replacement jutsu, used in a gut-wrenching way, leaving bile in his throat and desperation on his tongue.

Now, Sasuke had learnt and accepted that Shikako, by her very nature, was surprising. He applied the principles of _ expect the unexpected  _ to his thoughts regarding every action of hers, and had ultimately fostered a closer relationship and deeper understanding because of it.

Both Kakashi and him could see that she had some unknown plan unwinding in her head; a plan that was likely to come with another set of surprises.

The lack of conversation held up until they were in the depths of Konoha herself, hopping on the rooftops towards the Hokage Tower.

Kakashi-sensei lifted his hand, fingers forming the standard  _ wait _ sign, and eye-smiled before shunshinning away.

Although the brief moment of confusion had been bothersome, the general happiness that came with eating freshly grilled  _ yakitori _ was worth it. Shikako, fueled with newfound energy, was quick to start teasing him about the movie premiere once again. This time, he teased her back, and the lighthearted air remained even as they shuffled into Tsunade-sama’s office.

He wasn’t surprised when Shikako mentioned a particularly interesting background extra they saw during the premiere, an Uzumaki Nagato that had most definitely not actually been there.

Nevermind the fact that the citizens of Rain had very little interest in the movie that had been filmed, and that the few who did hadn’t looked anything like an Uzumaki, Sasuke still stood by Shikako and her statement. 

He stared at Tsunade-sama and purposefully narrowed his shoulders with an unspoken demand for an explanation, even though that demand was directed at a different person than it probably  _ should _ have been directed at.

Shikako had taught him a lot of things, but Sasuke liked to think that he taught himself how to unconditionally care for the members of Team 7. Even when it was questionable, he wanted to show them the same support they had consistently shown him.

It was a sort of two-way trust that had cemented itself into their very dynamic as a team, and their every interaction as friends. It was the kind of trust that paid off, too, especially as Shikako urged Tsunade to let her send a letter (already written, sealed into Hammerspace) to Naruto, and let him get into contact with one of the last living members of his family.

Sasuke could appreciate being back in Konoha.


End file.
